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‎ 10.22034/ARCHJ.4.4.3

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Adaptive Complexity in the Proto-Elamite Period: Networks, Administration, and Interregional Dynamics. athar https://doi.org/10.22034/ARCHJ.4.4.3
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/article-1-2059-en.html

Adaptive Complexity in the Proto-Elamite Period: Networks, Administration, and Interregional Dynamics

Abstract: (1653 Views)

This study examines the thematic classification of Proto-Elamite administrative and economic tablets as an analytical framework for identifying internal indicators of social complexity and transformation. Nine principal categories, ranging from ration disbursement, taxation, and animal husbandry records to household wealth inventories, labor allocation, agricultural accounts, decentralized administrative formats, minutes of collective decision making, and large-scale data texts, are evaluated for their capacity to reveal patterns of institutional organization, resource management, and power distribution. The findings underscore the multidimensional nature of complexity in the Proto-Elamite period, marked by polycentric, heterarchical, and flexible administrative arrangements. The evidence challenges unilinear and state-centric models, demonstrating that advanced bureaucratic, economic, and social systems could emerge through networked coordination, adaptive variability, and embedded distributive mechanisms rather than through centralized control alone.

Article number: 3

Keywords: Proto Elamite Complexity indicators, Tablet classification, Administrative technology, Economic specialization, Heterarchy, Polycentric governance

Type of Study: Original Research Article | Subject: Archeology and History of Art
Received: 2024/12/12 | Accepted: 2025/02/2 | Published: 2026/02/22

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